


After Shock

by RenaiRin



Category: Persona 5
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, And I wrote it for 1 Year anniversary, Arsene has red eyes goddamnit, Body Horror, Dark, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, Explicit Sexual Content, Happy horror birthday P5, Horror, How fucked up is that?, Hurt, Interrogation Room Related, M/M, Psychological Torture, Rape/Non-con Elements, Sexual Content, Torture, Violence, You're getting a special present today haha, this is really dark guys
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-09
Updated: 2018-04-16
Packaged: 2019-04-20 13:39:55
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 3
Words: 19,619
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14262195
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RenaiRin/pseuds/RenaiRin
Summary: When the small CD was found in between the usual bills and letters among the mail, Sojiro felt his heart drop.In thick black letters scrawled onto the top of the disc were the words:PLAY MEHe had a bad feeling about this.(Chapter 3 update!)





	1. Filming

**Author's Note:**

> Just know this is from one of the most sadistic individuals ever, and I'm dragging you down with me to hell.
> 
> Happy birthday P5! This is your horror gift hehe~
> 
> Music to be LOOPED: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wfC91VL_mHI
> 
>  Thank you for reading my crazy shit and enjoy~

The first thing Akira noticed through the haze was the color of the room. It was almost completely chocolate and beige, the walls coated in a thick coat of the colors and stained with cigarette smoke to leave it with a hazy grey finish. The carpet was an ugly fusion of beige mixed with years of wear and tear; it had turned an ugly shade of amber and was slightly matted in areas. The chair he sat in was uncomfortable, wooden and hard in all the wrong places. His hands were handcuffed behind the chair in a crooked and sore fashion, a wince leaving his lips as he stared at the ugly floor, avoiding the gazes of the corrupt police officers around the room. The ravenette licked his lips as he tried hard to focus his drug riddled haze, tasting the blood that was still dripping down his face from the nasty cut he’d acquired on his hairline. The laughter of the older men around him shook him from his thoughts, enough so he lifted his gaze and looked around the room.

Akira appeared to be sitting down in one corner of the hotel room; one of the men standing behind his chair with a bored expression as the others stood mere feet away, chatting in a circle. In the middle of the room, off to the teen’s left, was a four post bed accented with a wooden headboard and more of the beige colored sheets, which were thankfully not the same color as the floor. On the wall to his right was a simple partition from the kitchenette the room housed, and where various objects lay scattered upon the protruding shelf. Some of the men were talking in that room, but the darkness and absence of any real light muddled their appearances. They seemed to be police also, due to the way they chatted and glanced over at Akira with a firm gaze. Expecting. Waiting. What were they waiting for, the teen did not know. He barely knew how the group of men smuggled him into the room in the first place.

Akira realized the only lights in the room were the two lamps that hung from the corners of the left hand walls. Was that the only light source in the room? He couldn’t tell, with the fuzz of the drugs and the way his mind seemed hell bent on wandering from one thing to another. In his curious glance he could see the door to exit behind the men, down a small hallway with one overhead light illuminating the door. It was practically screaming ‘escape’ but he knew there was no way he would be able to get to it in his state. The officers had done a fairly good job beating him when they were still in the interrogation room. The thief tried his best to remember how they had gotten here, in the apparent hotel room. When did he lose consciousness? Where was Akechi?

Akechi…What was he supposed to do again? The lady with the suit…Sae? What did he need to tell her? Neither of them was there, in the room where he sat. They had a plan. The thieves—they were going to find out who was behind the murders—wait, what murders? Who was killed again? Akira could only shake his head as yet another drop of blood fell to the floor between his feet, staring down at the ugly amber carpet once more as the laughter intensified.

“Man, I can’t wait ‘till that guy gets here. This is gonna be good!” One of the men bellowed out, bringing with more laughter. What could that mean? Akira tried to listen in on the conversation as the door swung open on the far end of the room, bringing with it several approving nods and hollers. At the spike in noise the teen winced, leaning further forward as a man walked into the room carrying a small, plastic and metallic object. He stood on the other side of the bed and fiddled with the object as one of the more prominent abusers walked forward, standing in front of Akira and placing his hands in his pockets, snickering.

“Well, well, well. Here we are kid. Are you gonna make this easy for yourself and tell us your name or not?” Akira refused to look at the man before him. He didn’t want to give them his name but for some…strange reason, he knew he had to. He couldn’t say no. So instead of saying anything he kept his mouth shut. The ravenette only focused his gaze on the brown slacks the man wore as another chuckle flitted out into the room. Suddenly the teen was yanked upward by his hair, forced into eye contact with the older man as the pain spread like fire over his scalp.

“I admire your silence kid, but that will only make things worse for you, ya know. Hey Retsu, hand me that bat of the counter will ya? I wanna teach this kid some manners.” The man behind him moved, grabbing a wooden baseball bat and as soon as Akira’s eyes landed on it his breathing stopped. He began to struggle in his hold as the man in front of him motioned to the officer behind the chair, who promptly unlocked the cuffs on the teen’s wrists. He whipped his hands around to the front and grabbed at the arm that was still yanking at his hair as he was dragged painfully upwards. He stood beside the chair and felt a hand gripping his shoulder firmly as the one laced in his ebony hair left him hissing, instead grasping onto the wooden bat. More laughter filled the room as Akira’s gaze stilled onto the object.

“So kid; your name. Now.” The brown suited man drawled, smirking devilishly as Akira raised his head and gulped. That sickening tone of voice was familiar to him now, almost the same the man had used in the interrogation room when beating him before. But this time it sounded different—it sounded far more sadistic than before. The teen barely opened his mouth before the bat impacted with his left shin, knocking him off of his feet with a loud cry as he crashed to the floor.

The bat did not stop. Akira could only cover his head as the bat came barreling through the air into his side. The pain that emanated through his ribs was cause for concern, but he didn’t have time to register it as the next few hits of the wooden bat left him crying out in pain. It came down again; once on his right arm, another on his right leg, and yet again on his side. The loud _crack_ of bones breaking was almost overridden by the wail that left the thief’s lips as he felt the excruciating pain spread through his side and chest. It hurt to move, to breathe—but that didn’t stop the man from getting a few more rage induced hits onto the boy’s form, finally ending the attack with a swift kick to the face. Bright colors sparked through his vision and blood splattered onto the floor when he rolled onto his back, gasping painfully for air.

“What a workout! Now I’m even more pumped up for tonight. I’m giving you one more chance kid, your _name_ , and if I don’t hear it within the next five seconds you’ll be picking up your teeth from the floor.” Akira did not hesitate as he finally pulled in a decent amount of air.

“Kurusu! A-Akira, Kurusu.” The teen was panting, trying desperately to breath against the flaring pain in his right side and the slight sting his left shin was giving him. He could feel every movement send another jolt of static through his flesh and he tried his best to ignore it as the man who had been standing quietly behind his chair bent down and dragged the boy upwards to his feet. The rough hands on his upper arms were unforgiving as he felt the sharp prick of fingernails through his school uniform. The pain ebbed as he was situated on his feet, those hands moving to his shoulders as the brown suited man walked forward, dropping the bat onto the floor.

The teen could see where the wood splintered off from the midsection and onto the shaggy carpet, droplets of blood here and there. How hard had he been hit? Hard enough to break bones apparently, his ribcage was proof of that. Akira focused his frightened and adrenaline filled gaze onto the man before him as more sinister chuckles leapt out into the air.

“See kid, it wasn’t that hard. I know we drugged you, but we didn’t give you _that_ much. Just needed a little motivation was all.” The man snickered once more, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a small, black pocket knife before flicking the blade open. The blade glimmered in the light as Akira fidgeted against the man behind him, feebly attempting to back further away as another man—this one in a beige suit--stepped forward and grasped his left wrist hard. He gasped into the air and behind the brown suited man he could see the man with the object in his hands. That man was unlike the rest, he was only in a grey t-shirt and jeans. He didn’t look like a police officer at all. What was he doing here and what was he holding?

The brown suited man moved forward, making a slow movement as the first button of Akira’s school blazer was cut off, falling to the floor with a soft thud. The grip on his wrist tightened as his other hand was caught in the mix, a fusion of fear and anger appearing on his face as he glared at the man in brown.

“Make sure to put on a show for us, will you? After all, we need to make sure your little friends know who their messing with!” The men around him laughed once more, a shiver of unease running through the thief’s spine as another button was ruined, his blazer opening up further and showing the bloodstained sweater he wore beneath. His eyes darted around to the men as his eyes locked onto the object the pariah was holding.

It was a video camera, and it was focused directly on Akira. He gasped and fought against his restrainers once more.

“Stop it! Let me go!” Akira shouted at the men, ignoring the spike in pain from his ribcage as he struggled. The man in brown had finally cut off the last button and was working his way down the right sleeve, taking the sweater underneath with as the fabric ripped apart. As soon as the man in brown leaned back, Akira found his chance and swiftly kicked the man in the chin, knocking him to the floor.

The teen smirked for half a second as the men around him laughed, amused by the attempt. But when the man in brown cursed and lifted himself off of the floor, a sadistic glimmer in his eyes as he stared the young man down and grinned wildly. Akira’s heart stopped for a second, adrenaline taking over his mind as all he heard in his head was the quick beat of his pulse when the man reached out and grabbed at the teen’s right hand, yanking it forward in a death grip. He flailed as the hands holding him down moved to circled around his chest and neck, restraining him once more as the man in brown took the index finger and smiled.

“You’re gonna pay for that, _A-ki-ra_.” The way the man said his name turned the thief’s stomach as with every syllable, the man dug the tip of the knife through Akira’s skin, in between the nail and the soft flesh. A pained cry leapt from his lips as the man sliced back through the nail bed before tilting the knife up and popping the nail off of the flesh with a sickly sound as blood pooled and dripped off of his fingertip. He cried out as the nail was ripped from the skin slowly, until it was no longer attached, and his mind cleared as the bloody flesh was dropped to the floor. Akira could only stare at the man before him as he leaned in close and poked the knife into the fabric on his left shoulder, a whimper leaving his lips subconsciously.

“Go ahead; try something like that again and you’ll be sure to lose the whole _finger_.” Akira flinched as the knife was quickly dragged down, expertly as it did not pierce his flesh, but the sleeve hung around his arm in shambles. He felt the blazer fall to the floor and the neck of his sweater ripped down. A small, pinch-like pain radiated throughout his neck and before he could process what it was he saw the needle the man in white held being thrown to the floor.

They were drugging him again. But with _what_?

The man in brown cackled and made quick work of the sweater, tearing it off of the teen with a hum and watching as Akira squirmed underneath the hands that held him. The teen was bare-chested now, bruises littering his skin and a particularly nasty one where his aching ribs were. A hand trailed down his chest and made him stop moving just enough for the fingers to dig painfully into the bruised flesh. The ravenette cried out, tears threatening to fall as another snicker flitted into the air.

“We’re going to have so much fun with you…” The man in brown whispered into Akira’s ear, moving the knife towards the zipper on his school slacks before slicing through the button that rested there. The teen was squirming harder, panting into the air as he wrestled with the two men holding him down. Slowly but surely his pants were removed—leaving the teen wondering when his shoes had been taken off--before he felt those same rough fingers that held his own before ripping his socks away from his feet. The teen was completely naked now, heat rushing to his cheeks when more of the sickening laughter filled the room.

“Not too bad for a kid your age. You’ll make a nice toy for the time being.” The thief was thrown onto the bed haphazardly, realizing what was about to happen and kicking out blindly. He caught one of the two men that had been holding him down in the face, more coos of laughter ringing out into the room as he was dragged toward the headboard and he felt the cold, unrelenting press of handcuffs dig into his tender wrists. The chain was wrapped around one of the smaller posts within the board and even as he struggled against them he couldn’t seem to do anything more than cause his flesh more agony. At that point he was breathing raggedly, darting his eyes all over the room as his skin began to emit a heat he knew couldn’t be healthy. Everything was blurring together and he began to feel so utterly warm, much like a fever crawling over his skin. The man in brown cackled again and kneeled onto the bed, grasping the ravenette’s chin before pressing his face towards the left side of the bed, right where the camera man was standing. His ash colored eyes reflected back to him through the lens as he tried to look away.

“Say hello to your friends for us. They’re going to be in for _quite_ the show!” The man in brown cackled once more, and Akira’s heart dropped in his chest. Friends? Did they catch them? Were they watching this right now? _No_. The police weren’t going to show this to them…would they?

“No! Stop it!” Akira screamed out into the room, wrenching his jaw away and continuing to kick his legs as the men surrounded the bed. The man in brown tossed his jacket off and to the side of the bed, attempting to crawl between the teen’s legs before being hit by one foot in the stomach. The man growled and leaned forward, bringing his hand hard across the thief’s face and earning a loud cry in response. Tears were threatening to form in the corners of his eyes as the thief recovered from the stinging sensation in his cheek, hands gripping hard at his thighs when the man settled between them.

“I’m gonna make sure you _bleed_. I think you deserve it after giving us hell in trying to catch you. Sides’ it’s not like you haven’t murdered people before. Who knew this little bastard was the righteous leader of the Phantom Thieves?” The man cackled once more, eyes glowering with a sadistic lust as he closed the gap between himself at the pale teen beneath him. Akira was flailing harder, thinking about anything he could do to try and get himself out of this situation. He knew exactly what these men were about to do and wanted to put as many miles as he could between the men and himself. But no matter how hard he pulled at the handcuffs, no matter how much his skin flared and the blood pooled as he tore the tender flesh in his movements, he could not escape. Suddenly the man leaned forward, darkness in his voice as he spoke.

“Tell me, _Akira_ , are you a virgin?” Akira did not respond, instead opting to squirm even more so under the touch of the older man. His hands were gripping hard at his hips and disturbing already-formed bruises. He knew the first drug they gave him made him unable to lie, so all he could do was keep quiet. The ravenette didn’t want them to know—his friends to know. It was only going to make what was about to happen worse. He screwed his eyes shut as the man leaned directly over him, awaiting a reply. A moment passed and he felt a hard backhand radiate over his face as he cried out once more.

“I don’t hear an answer. Am I going to have to start breaking fingers?” Akira shook his head violently, fighting back tears as his chin was tilted painful forward so he could face the man above him directly. The burning mahogany eyes he peered into terrified him. They seemed so cold and dead within; he knew instantly the man above him would not hesitate to deliver his promised pain. The teen took a few raspy breaths as he stuttered out a response.

“N-No. Please, d-don’t.” The dead-eyed man chuckled and released the teen’s face, leaning back up as he did so.

“So he speaks! Tell me then, are you a virgin?” The unmistakable tone of venomous mocking filled the air as the thief responded.

“Yes.” he squeaked out, shaking uncontrollably as the man grinned wide and licked his lips extremely slowly. He leaned down and found one of the streams of blood that had yet to dry on the teen’s face, running his tongue along the blood and making a territorial, almost animal like grunt in the back of his throat as he did so. Akira paled and let out a high-pitched whine as the feeling of the wet appendage on his skin.

“Good. I’ll be sure to ravish you then!” The man quickly leaned back, hands returning to the young teen’s hips as they lifted him upwards. Those mahogany eyes ran over Akira’s form seductively as his hands went down to his slacks, unzipping the material and pulling the man’s hard cock out into the biting cold air of the room. The teen shivered and struggled harder, a whimper escaping his throat as he bit down on his lip to stifle the pleas he could feel on the edge of his tongue. He knew the sick man would like to hear him scream, he just knew this man found pleasure in the pain of others. So when the ravenette’s legs were pinned down to his chest and the man’s member brushed against his entrance, he tried his best not to give into the temptation.

It was short lived however.

The man thrust in, ripping the flesh apart and relishing in the bloodcurdling scream he got out of the thief as he pressed all the way into the teen below him with a sound, satisfied huff. Akira felt as if he were being split apart, his back arching and his eyes rolling to the back of his head in excruciating pain. The dry burn within his throat intensified as the man began to thrust, fast paced and unrelenting as the teen writhed and shrieked below him. He had already bitten through his lip in one attempt to muffle the cries, and he barely noticed through his own pain how hot his skin was becoming. He felt as if he was on fire, inside and out, and the man leaned in close and closed his teeth around Akira’s right shoulder, biting down _hard_.

“ _AH!”_ Akira shrieked, tears streaming down his face as the man above him smirked into the bite and continued to pummel into the young teen, who already felt the blood seeping out of the wounds he was receiving and staining the beige sheets below him. The ravenette was gripping hard into his own fists, nails digging into the flesh and blemishing the skin as he wailed and cried and begged for the pain to stop.

“Stop it! P-Please, _stop!_ ” The mahogany eyed man pulled away from the teen’s shoulder, blood dripping down his chin as he grinned wide. The grin only sent more fear coursing through Akira’s veins as he reached his hand upwards to clasp around the pale teen’s throat. Gripping hard around the flesh, he snickered and groaned out into the room.

“Shut up kid. I only want to hear you _scream_ , you got that. You don’t have a say in what happens to you. In fact, you’re going to take my cock and _like it_. Aren’t you, filthy whore!” The hands squeezed harder around the teen, causing him to choke hard and writhe further underneath the man. His lungs burned fiercely within his chest as with every time the man gripped harder, he would thrust into Akira and caused him to let out a muffled whimper. His eyes dilated and he started to see black spots dot his vision as the man kept his grip, and the fighting the ravenette continued to do only grew fainter as the seconds passed. Eventually he man let go, causing the teen to gasp hard before he let the same air he desperately needed rush out of him in another strained cry as the man thrust into him hard, hitting something within Akira that he never knew existed before.

“Looks like I found it. Go on kid, scream for me…” the man trailed off, slamming back into Akira with a force that winded him yet again. He gasped desperately and held the breath as he gritted his teeth together, muffling the sound as the man continued his work. The bruises that were beginning to form around the teen’s neck burned as he struggled to hold back the sounds he was making.

“N-No!” the teen grunted out, screwing his eyes shut as one particular thrust sent both pain and pleasure down his spine. Akira was only vaguely aware of his own member slowly becoming hard through the mix of drugs and pain. It had to have been due to what the man in white had given him before. Again the teen squirmed under the overbearing man above him when nails dug hard into the flesh of his back, forcing the teen upwards toward the man as they sharply ran down his back, drawing blood.

“I said **_scream_**!” The deadly crimson eyes above him bore down into the teen’s own, and in his own pain couldn’t help but do exactly as told.  Akira screamed, far more loudly and heart wrenching than any one scream he let out before as the man came inside of him. The man rode out his orgasm with a few more quick thrusts, licking the tears that continued to fall down the thief’s face as he did so. He pulled out quickly and painfully, leaning back on his haunches as he dropped the ravenette onto the bed without care, looking down at the broken and bleeding body before him with a satisfied hum of approval.

“God, did you have to make him bleed?” One of the men beside the bed complained, leaning back onto the wall behind him with his arms crossed. The crimson eyed man glared at him but kept the smirk he had on his face.

“It’s no fun if I don’t make him suffer. He has such a pretty face when it’s covered in pain after all.” The man ran his fingers down Akira’s neck and he flinched, hissing out into the air.

“I don’t mind it as much, but there’s so much blood…Oh well, better have at it while I’ve got the chance. “ A man in dark blue said, dropping his coat to the floor as he swapped places with the man in brown. Akira glanced around fearfully and through his painful daze, noticed exactly how much blood was on the bed. There was so much pooled around his midsection he was wondering how long it would take to make him pass out from blood loss. He hoped it was soon as the man in blue leaned forward and uncuffed his wrists from the headboard, earning a confused whimper in reply.

“Just do as I say kid. It’ll be less painful for you that way, alright?” the man in blue whispered. Akira could only nod his head and allow the man to turn him over onto his stomach. He rested his sore and bloody wrists against the white sheets beside his head and watched as the metallic liquid stained the sheets a deep scarlet. He winced as the man settled behind the teen, raising his hips into the air and scooting between his legs. Akira just closed his eyes and pressed his fingers into the fabric below him, wishing he would wake up soon. Wishing he didn’t have to be here, being beaten and raped on camera. He wished he could die and get it over with.

“Stay still kid.” The man leaned down to whisper into Akira’s ear, placing his hands on the teen’s hips as he guided himself slowly into the increasingly pale flesh below him. The pain flared and he felt the deep burn of his wounds as the man continued onwards. The teen could only hiss and cry out weakly, feeling his fingers curl into the bedding below him as the man finally settled himself. The man was gracious enough to allow the ravenette a minute to adjust to the size of the member, before he wrapped his hand around Akira’s own and began to thrust in tune with his hand pumps.

Akira bristled and let out a startling moan as the man hit that one sensitive spot within him, mixing the pleasure and pain in a frightening way that the teen did not want. He felt disgusting and violated by what he was experiencing. His body shouldn’t be allowed to like certain parts of this through all the pain. Again the man moved, pacing himself as the teen cried out in that same sickening mix once more.

Akira honestly didn’t know what was worse; the pain in the pleasure, or the pleasure in the pain…

The man in blue continued on, eventually getting to a pace where thrusts came every few seconds or so. Akira couldn’t help it when his own member began to drip with pre-cum, and the moans he let out were higher pitched and filled with lust. It made him physically sick to know he could feel such a thing when his ribs ached, his finger stinging as it was gripped harder into the sheets, and his shoulder throbbed where the man in brown had bitten him. Especially more so when he knew it came from the same place where he was slowly bleeding down his thighs, the metallic liquid dripping onto the almost black sheets. The teen arched his back and let out an especially loud moan when the man changed his method and began thumbing over his slit in time with a perfectly aimed thrust. It was only a few motions later when the teen came hard in the other man’s hand.

“See? Wasn’t so bad this time, was it?” The man whispered into Akira’s ear as he came as well, the warmth flooding through the thief causing him to sob and shake violently. The man brushed his lips across the back of his neck and sent more shivers down his spine. He wanted to shrug the man off but found it hard to move his muscles. Everything felt far too tired and tight as the man pulled out and left the bed, the lower half of his pants stained a dark purple from the blood mixing with the blue pigment.

Akira's vision and awareness began to blur together as another man crawled onto the bed to do whatever he pleased. In his drugged and blood-loss stupor, the teen could only look over towards the camera once more before blacking out entirely.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I warned you. Here's some tissues for that ride by the way...
> 
> This will hopefully be around 3 chapters or so. Quite the short story.
> 
> Thank you for reading!


	2. Viewing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Watching as their leader was slowly but surely broken in front of them left a rancid taste on their tongue and a heavy weight on their hearts.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know a new chapter so soon I must be on a roll. This is true ~~because I can't get this story out of my head help~~
> 
> MUSIC to be LOOPED: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EfE-tV8Cq00 
> 
> Thank you for reading~

The trek back over to the Sakura household was quite the welcome ‘breath of fresh air’ Sojiro needed. He rolled his shoulders and popped a kink in his neck with a sigh as the crisp November air calmed his nerves. The few people he passed blurred into the background as he recollected on the past hectic day and a half at LeBlanc.

The Phantom Thieves had gone and pulled another deadly stunt for the sake of justice. Or so, that’s what he had been told by a cryptic Futaba as she ran to her room smiling like a maniac and making those small, devilish laughs. It was almost a full day before he heard the news of their leader’s suicide on the television, nearly causing Sojiro to drop dead right then and there. But even as Nijima-san called and reassured the man of his ward’s safety and status with a pulse, the café owner couldn’t help but feel something was _off_.

One by one each of the group of thieves piled into the café, small traces of worry etched into their faces as they walked the stairs up to Akira’s room. Even the damn cat had been walking somewhat uneasy as he hopped off of the barstool he’d decided to perch upon, sauntering up the stairs with purposeful movements. And if the cat was acting weird, then something must have been up aside from the whole faking-my-death fiasco the ambitious kid had created.

It was only when the Nijima sisters showed up with their eyes glazed over in gloom that he really began to worry. Sojiro never thought he’d see the day either of those siblings ever had genuine concern detailed into every movement they made. The older sister had explained what happened quietly upstairs, before resuming her search not even an hour later.

Their plan worked-That Akechi kid thought he had killed the ‘fake’ Akira within that crazy other world the thieves had been talking about. What concerned them was where their leader had been spirited away to in the meantime. From what Sae had said, she had been in the middle of retrieving the ravenette from his capture when he simply vanished from the interrogation room without a trace. No struggle or anything of the sort left behind. It was quite the conversation when Futaba had started going off on the brief time the security camera had been down in the room, her unable to do anything but try to turn it back on before someone beat her to it. Either way the kid had been declared dead; the police none-the-wiser as Akechi lit up the screens of Tokyo hailed as a hero and reveling in the newfound glory he possessed.

If Sojiro had his way Akechi would be the one missing, Akira home safe and sound with Futaba and himself. But even as he shook the bittersweet thought from his head, finally reaching the mailbox on the outer gate of the Sakura household as he decided to clear the lingering worry from his mind for just a few seconds, remembering he had yet to check the post today.

He quickly grabbed the envelopes in various sizes and colors, turning around to head back to the café while glancing over various names and senders. When the small CD was found in between the usual bills and letters among the mail, Sojiro felt his heart drop. In thick black letters scrawled onto the top of the disc were the words: **PLAY ME**

He had a bad feeling about this.

Pushing his instinctual need to find out exactly what was on the CD _this instant_ aside, he walked back to the café with a noticeable stiffness in his usually fluid movements. This was certainly new; nobody had ever dropped a simple CD into his mailbox before. But with the current situation as it was…

It only made his stomach flip as he thought deeper about it. It could just be another thief related business. Once he entered the gloomy atmosphere of the café, making sure to turn around and lock the door since he had thought better of opening the store today, he tossed his keys haphazardly onto the counter with the other lesser envelopes before making a beeline to the stairs.

All of Akira and Futaba’s friends were nestled on the upper floor, brainstorming exactly what could have happened to their leader. Heads shifted and eyes focused on Sojiro as he crossed the threshold and set his gaze upon his adopted daughter, sitting awkwardly on a wooden chair, her feet beneath her bottom as she tapped away unceremoniously on her laptop keyboard. He cleared his throat and caught her attention as the light of the room reflected off of her glasses and revealed her extremely rare determined face. The man would have been amused had the situation not been so serious.

“I found this in the mailbox. I have a hunch it’s for you guys.” He set the disc into his daughters hand as she flipped it over, thinking for a second before scooting the chair away from the wooden desk behind her and setting her laptop onto the surface. As she popped the CD into her disk drive the other thieves inched closer, led by their secondary leader-the younger Nijima sister, Makoto.

Makoto herself was in quite a mood, considering she had been dealing with worrisome and sometimes clashing members of the group in Akira’s absence. Sometimes she did not know how he did it--keep everyone so calm and agreeable around each other. But she supposed it was just another quality about him that made him one step above the rest. In the few hours they had been going over things privately, due to the kindness Sakura-san showed, they had already ruled out a few possibilities.

Akechi clearly had not been the culprit, considering her sister was absolutely certain they had not found a body. Kidnapping was possible and more than likely the result of Akira’s disappearance, but for what purpose remained a mystery. Even Futaba’s outlandish comment about alien abduction almost sounded refreshing under the strain of stress they all had been experiencing.

Each member had slight dark circles underneath their eyes and moved almost at a snail’s pace as they rounded the table, Ryuji pulling out one wooden chair to sit in it backwards. Ann herself was sitting cross-legged on the edge of the wooden surface, arms pressed behind herself as she looked over to the screen. Futaba was still tapping away at her keyboard in front of the laptop, Yusuke standing tall beside her while he watched her work eagerly. Haru simply held Morgana in her arms, which the cat only allowed her to do out of the smothering gloom that filled the attic room, as the cat himself narrowed his eyes in suspicion. Makoto stood as still as she could, arms crossed as she stood behind the chair the strawberry blonde sat in. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Sakura-san lean against the table that sat against the wooden railing that accented the stairs. With a small nervous flutter of her stomach, and a hardened gaze of smoldering fire, she watched carefully as Futaba pressed play upon her laptop, revealing the contents of the video.

“What do you think is even on this thing?” Ryuji mumbled under his breath, leaning into his crossed arms as they rested upon the back of the wooden chair he occupied.

“Is it too much to ask for Phoenix Ranger Feathermen Crossbattle?” The nervous banter from the bespectacled girl was appreciated, lifting a small smile to the corner of the brunette’s lips as she kept her calm about the situation.

“It could be anything, really.” Makoto muttered in the unbearable silence.

_The video started, revealing a bruised and battered Akira sitting in an uncomfortable chair in the back corner of a room. Hotel room, apparently, considering the smoke stained walls and the way the bed was made in spite of the décor of the room. Various police officers, around five in the single camera shot, were standing in a circle laughing about various things as they talked._

The blood that dripped down their leader’s face and onto the ugly carpet between his feet only sent a shiver up the girl’s spine. With one curious glance, she noticed she was not the only one as she saw the grimace appearing on Ryuji’s face and the sudden soft gasp Haru made behind her.

_Suddenly one of the men, a officer in a dark brown suit, stepped forward towards Akira and snickered into the air. The teen kept his head down as the man talked._

_“Well, well, well. Here we are kid. Are you gonna make this easy for yourself and tell us your name or not?” The teen never responded, only focusing his clearly unfocused gaze onto the man’s slacks before the man in brown grabbed a fistful of the thief’s hair, pulling upwards and earning a painful wince in response. The two made eye contact before the man in brown spoke._

Makoto heard a grunt of frustration radiate into the room. She was unsure of which male around her made it but assumed they all were probable candidates as she kept her gaze centered on the screen before her. Beneath her Futaba tensed and she had to rest a reassuring hand onto the girl’s shoulder in order to keep her relaxed.

_“I admire your silence kid, but that will only make things worse for you, ya know. Hey Retsu, hand me that bat of the counter will ya? I wanna teach this kid some manners.” The man behind him in a dark blue suit moved, grabbing a wooden baseball bat and as soon as Akira’s eyes landed on it he stilled unnaturally._

“What the hell? What’s going on?”Ryuji started, eyes widening as one horrid word echoed through his mind. _Torture_.

_He began to struggle in his hold as the man in front of him motioned to the officer behind the chair, who promptly unlocked the cuffs on the teen’s wrists. The teen whipped his hands around to the front and grabbed at the arm that was still yanking at his hair as he was dragged painfully upwards. He stood beside the chair and a hand firmly griped his shoulder as the one laced in his ebony hair left him hissing, instead grasping onto the wooden bat. More laughter filled the room as Akira’s gaze stilled onto the object._

“They’re not going to-“ Yusuke stared, wide eyed at the scene playing out before them as Morgana hissed, tail whipping around and hitting Haru’s arm with a sound _thump_. He kept quiet though, choosing to stare with his ears perched back on his head as the scene further unfolded.

_“So kid; your name. Now.” The brown suited man drawled, smirking devilishly as Akira raised his head and gulped. The tone the man used was sickening and sadistic. It was almost as if the man wanted the thief to disobey him. The teen barely opened his mouth before the bat impacted with his left shin, knocking him off of his feet with a loud cry as he crashed to the floor._

“Akira!” Ann stared, gripping the edge of the table subconsciously as Ryuji tried his best not to bolt out of the chair. Makoto gasped and hissed into the air, an unsightly combination of cursing running through her mind that she would not speak out loud in a million years. Haru and Yusuke stilled and attempted to keep their calm as the abuse continued, Futaba now shaking under Makoto’s touch.

_The bat did not stop. With every movement the wooden object impacted hard with the teen below it, a loud thud emanating out into the room when it collided with his right side ribcage. The cry that left the ravenette’s lips was the definition of unnerving as he brought his arms to cover his head protectively. Again the bat crashed down, onto his arms and legs and finally once more on his unprotected ribcage. The snapping of bones broke the silence aside from the nasty wail that left Akira’s lips. The bat continued on, only stopping once the man kicked the teen in the head with a horrible sound and the teen rolled over to his back, groaning out into the air._

“Goddamn bastards! This is abuse and they know it!” Ryuji spat out into the air, his knuckles turning white as he gripped hard onto the edge of his chair. Makoto gasped at the brutal display before her and grimaced.

“This is torture! How could the police be so blatantly violent with a sixteen year old student?” the brunette desperately wanted to turn her head away but kept her gaze for the sake of learning as much as she could about these men in the video. She was going to bury them herself even if it took her years to do so.

Sojiro breathed in sharply, arms tightening at the display before him. He wanted to speak but knew he would probably start raising his voice if he did. That wouldn’t be good for any of them, so instead he gritted his teeth and kept his voice to himself. Damn police…

_“What a workout! Now I’m even more pumped up for tonight. I’m giving you one more chance kid, your_ _**name** _ _, and if I don’t hear it within the next five seconds you’ll be picking up your teeth from the floor.” Akira did not hesitate as he finally pulled in a decent amount of air._

_“Kurusu! A-Akira, Kurusu.” The teen was panting, trying desperately to breathe. It seemed thief was struggling with the newfound pain he felt before the man who had stood behind his chair grabbed Akira’s upper arms, forcing him upwards. He was situated on his feet, those hands moving to his shoulders as the brown suited man walked forward, dropping the bat onto the floor. It was splintered and a few small droplets of blood could be seen near where the bat lay on the floor._

“Sickos! Leave him alone!” Futaba spoke through clenched teeth, her small frame trembling underneath Makoto’s fingers. The ruby eyed girl was narrowing her gaze, a thousand different ways to hurt these men running through her mind with the promise of revenge when she got the chance. Ryuji had started tapping his feet against the floor in a clearly nervous and worried manner, muttering curses under his breath.

_“See kid, it wasn’t that hard. I know we drugged you, but we didn’t give you_ _that_ _much. Just needed a little motivation was all.” The man snickered once more, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a small, black pocket knife before flicking the blade open. The blade glimmered in the light as Akira fidgeted against the man behind him, feebly attempting to back further away as another man—this one in a beige suit--stepped forward and grasped his left wrist hard. He gasped into the air and unknowingly glanced towards the camera behind the man in brown._

_The brown suited man moved forward, making a slow movement as the first button of Akira’s school blazer was cut off, falling to the floor with a soft thud. The grip on his wrist tightened as his other hand was caught in the mix, a fusion of fear and anger appearing on his face as he glared at the man in brown._

“The hell is this guy doing now? It wasn’t enough to beat the crap out of him earlier?” Ryuji’s voice rose only slightly, before Ann place her hand onto his shoulder and shook her head, calming the boy for a moment as he glanced towards the floor. They all thought it but even he knew it wouldn’t help getting pissed about it now. They still needed to know if he was alright after all.

But he was damned if the police thought they were out of his clutches because of their supposed ‘power’.

_“Make sure to put on a show for us, will you? After all, we need to make sure your little friends know who their messing with!” The men around him laughed once more, a shiver running through the thief’s body as another button was ruined, his blazer opening up further and showing the bloodstained sweater he wore beneath. His eyes darted around to the men as his eyes locked onto the camera one man were holding._

_Once his dilated, unfocused eyes made contact with the camera his eyes widened with fear._

Makoto’s heart dropped. She had never seen Akira express fear in such a manner before. Every now and again within the confines of the metaverse he showed genuine concerned fear, mostly in accordance with the life of one of his dear friends. But this…this was not that kind of fear. This was the same kind of fear that a boy would have after a nightmare. This was the monster-in-my-closet kind of terrified expression. It took a moment to realize she had raised her free hand to her mouth to muffle her gasp.

“Akira…”

_“Stop it! Let me go!” Akira shouted at the men, ignoring the wince he made as he struggled. The man in brown had finally cut off the last button and was working his way down the right sleeve, taking the sweater underneath with as the fabric ripped apart. As soon as the man in brown leaned back, Akira found his chance and swiftly kicked the man in the chin, knocking him to the floor._

“Hell yeah! Get him Akira!” Ryuji cheered, grinning wide from ear to ear at the usual fight his leader had always possessed that continued to motivate him ever since the first day he met the ravenette. Yusuke muttered another strange compliment along the lines of “Such grace…” as Haru smiled shyly, which was really hiding her deadly grin of approval. Even Ann and Makoto beamed at the sight of their rebellious Joker they had followed into the metaverse time and time again.

Futaba snickered in satisfaction and flexed her fingers at the exact moment Sojiro thought about how in the _hell_ that kid could pull off a high kick in such a manner. No matter, he was impressed either way. That kid was agile for sure…

_The teen smirked for half a second as the men around him laughed, amused by the attempt. But when the man in brown cursed and lifted himself off of the floor, a sadistic glimmer in his eyes as he stared the young man down and grinned wildly. Akira stopped for a second, eyes widening in awareness just as the man reached out and grabbed at the teen’s right hand, yanking it forward in a death grip. He flailed as the hands holding him down moved to circle around his chest and neck, restraining him once more as the man in brown took the index finger and smiled._

_“You’re gonna pay for that,_ _A-ki-ra_ _.” The way the man said his name made the thief flinch, the man digging the tip of the knife through Akira’s skin, in between the nail and the soft flesh. A pained cry leapt from his lips as the man sliced back through the nail bed before tilting the knife up and popping the nail off of the flesh with a sickly sound as blood pooled and dripped off of his fingertip. He cried out as the nail was ripped from the skin slowly, until it was no longer attached, and his mind cleared as the bloody flesh was dropped to the floor. Akira could only stare at the man before him, panting, as he leaned in close and poked the knife into the fabric on his left shoulder, a whimper leaving his lips subconsciously._

“Akira! Those bastards!” Ryuji shot up this time, nearly knocking over the chair before catching it in a death grip. Futaba had long since looked away, turning around in her awkward huddle on the chair to face Makoto. The brunette placed her hands around the younger girl’s shoulders and pulled her close, feeling small trembling hands grasp around her school vest, searching for comfort. Makoto however was unsure she would be very giving of that comfort as the rage within her flared at the purely violent act that their leader had gone through. How dare they!

Haru somehow managed to stomach the scene, Yusuke instead turning his head and raising his hand to his mouth in a small attempt to cover the disgust of watching such a thing. Sojiro was gripping harder at his forearms as the scene played out, noticing how quiet the blonde girl sat on the table. Something was up especially with her as the video continued onwards.

_“Go ahead; try something like that again and you’ll be sure to lose the whole_ _**finger** _ _.” Akira flinched as the knife was quickly dragged down, expertly as it did not pierce his flesh, but the sleeve hung around his arm in shambles. The blazer fell to the floor and the neck of his sweater was ripped down. A small, white needle was stuck into the ravenette’s neck and something was injected, before the man in white threw it to the floor just as Akira realized what had happened._

_The man in brown cackled and made quick work of the sweater, tearing it off of the teen with a hum and watching as Akira squirmed underneath the hands that held him. The teen was bare-chested now, bruises littering his skin and a particularly nasty one where his aching ribs were. A hand trailed down his chest and made him stop moving just enough for the fingers to dig painfully into the bruised flesh. The ravenette cried out, the beginning of tears forming at the corner of his eyes as another snicker flitted into the air._

_“We’re going to have so much fun with you…” The man in brown whispered into Akira’s ear, moving the knife towards the zipper on his school slacks before slicing through the button that rested there. The teen was squirming harder, panting into the air as he wrestled with the two men holding him down. Slowly but surely his pants were removed before the rest of his clothing followed quickly. The teen was completely naked now, heat rushing to his cheeks when more of the sickening laughter filled the room._

“What the fuck?” Ryuji was muttering, a small wavering in his voice as he stood and stared at the screen. Makoto made a pained noise as she realized exactly what they were going to do, earning the attention of Haru who was blushing and looking away from the screen and Yusuke who was staring confused at the screen. Ann had turning a few shades paler, hands gripping unbelievably hard at the desk as she lowered her head so you couldn’t see her eyes as her pigtails fell forward on her shoulders. Sojiro made eye contact with Makoto and knew exactly what she was thinking as the older girl shook Futaba in front of her, who was still turned away from the computer screen.

_“Not too bad for a kid your age. You’ll make a nice toy for the time being.” The thief was thrown onto the bed haphazardly, realizing what was about to happen and kicking out blindly. He caught one of the two men that had been holding him down in the face, more coos of laughter ringing out into the room as he was dragged toward the headboard and he cried out when the cold, unrelenting press of handcuffs dug into his tender wrists. The chain was wrapped around one of the smaller posts within the board and even as he struggled against them he couldn’t seem to do anything more than cause his flesh more agony._

_At that point he was breathing raggedly, darting his eyes all over the room as he writhed in his own skin. Everything was moving far too fast, the camera shifting to get a better view of Akira as he lay exposed on the bed. The man in brown cackled again and kneeled onto the bed, grasping the ravenette’s chin before pressing his face towards the left side of the bed, right where the camera_ _man was standing. The teen could only glance at the camera before trying to turn his head away, instead closing his eyes as the man spoke above him._

_“Say hello to your friends for us. They’re going to be in for_ _quite_ _the show!” The man in brown cackled once more, and Akira flinched violently._

“Futaba you have to stop it! Turn it off!” Makoto moved quickly, trying her best to block the view for the other thieves as Ryuji paced the room and kicked wildly out at the chair he once sat in. Futaba herself was in a state of confusion, staring at the scene on the monitor before fiddling with the keyboard and trying to stop the playback. Her face lit up in fear when she continued to tap at the keyboard and found it did nothing at all for the situation.

_“No! Stop it!” Akira screamed out into the room, wrenching his jaw away and continuing to kick his legs as the men surrounded the bed. The man in brown tossed his jacket off and to the side of the bed, attempting to crawl between the teen’s legs before being hit by one foot in the stomach. The man growled and leaned forward, bringing his hand hard across the thief’s face and earning a loud cry in response. Tears were threatening to form in the corners of his eyes as the thief recovered from the blow, hands gripping hard at his thighs when the man settled between them._

“I-I can’t! It’s locked me out!” The girl typed furiously once more but was met with the same result. Haru gasped and turned away and Yusuke allowed himself to back a few feet away from the display.

_“I’m gonna make sure you_ _bleed_ _. I think you deserve it after giving us hell in trying to catch you. Sides’ it’s not like you haven’t murdered people before. Who knew this little bastard was the righteous leader of the Phantom Thieves?” The man cackled once more, eyes glowering with a sadistic lust as he closed the gap between himself at the pale teen beneath him. Akira was flailing harder, but no matter how hard he pulled at the handcuffs, no matter how much his skin flared and the blood pooled as he tore the tender flesh in his movements, he could not escape. Suddenly the man leaned forward, darkness in his voice as he spoke._

 “What do you mean? Can’t we shut the lid!? Wouldn’t it turn off then?” Ryuji was practically shouting, not because he wanted to but because he was afraid. His best friend was on the other end of that screen and he knew, he _knew_ that this was happening. It may have already happened. It _did_  already happen and he felt his stomach turn and twist and knot at the truth of the sickening things done to Akira.

_“Tell me,_ _Akira_ _, are you a virgin?” Akira did not respond, instead opting to squirm even more so under the touch of the older man. His hands were gripping hard at his hips and disturbing already-formed bruises. He screwed his eyes shut as the man leaned directly over him, awaiting a reply. A moment passed and a hard backhand radiated over his face as he cried out once more._

“That’s not how this works! I can’t-I can’t do anything!” the young girl sobbed, once more trying and failing to stop the video. But as their arguing began the video continued on and Makoto knew this was the point of no return. She threw a fearsome look at Sojiro who was already seething as he marched over to the laptop.

_“I don’t hear an answer. Am I going to have to start breaking fingers?” Akira shook his head violently, fighting back tears as his chin was tilted painful forward so he could face the man above him directly. The burning mahogany eyes he peered into were terrifying even from the camera’s perspective. They were filled with sadistic lust and the stillness of a dead man. The teen took a few raspy breaths as he stuttered out a response._

_“N-No. Please, d-don’t.” The dead-eyed man chuckled and released the teen’s face, leaning back up as he did so._

The way Akira spoke only sent chills down Makoto’s spine. She had never heard this teen so submissive before. The seconds seemed to slow as the video went on, vicious fire smoldering within her.

_“So he speaks! Tell me then, are you a virgin?” The unmistakable tone of venomous mocking filled the air as the thief responded._

_“Yes.” Akira squeaked out, shaking uncontrollably as the man grinned wide and licked his lips extremely slowly. He leaned down and found one of the streams of blood that had yet to dry on the teen’s face, running his tongue along the blood and making a territorial, almost animal like grunt in the back of his throat as he did so. Akira paled and let out a high-pitched whine as the feeling of the wet appendage on his skin._

_“Good. I’ll be sure to ravish you then!” The man quickly leaned back, hands returning to the young teen’s hips as they lifted him upwards. Those mahogany eyes ran over Akira’s form seductively as his hands went down to his slacks, unzipping the material and pulling the man’s hard cock out into the biting cold air of the room. The teen shivered and struggled harder, a whimper escaping his throat as he bit down on his lip to stifle any further ones. But soon the ravenette’s legs were pinned down to his chest and the man grew increasingly close to the teen._

“Get her out of here _now!_ ” Makoto shoved Futaba into Sojiro’s arms, and he made quick work of carrying her down the stairs as sobs wracked her small frame. Yusuke was leaning against the far back wall already and had turned completely away from the video. Morgana could only hiss and tug at Haru’s foot, desperately trying to get her attention and to look away from the vile video in front of her vision. Thankfully she did so and decided to scoop up the feline into her grasp and run down the stairs just as well. Ann still sat on the table but was now gripping hard at her own forearms, an ugly grimace covering her face as tears fell and Ryuji shouted as he punched the far wall, trying his best not to lose his shit right then and there.

And then there was Makoto, who could not pull herself to look away from the video.

_The man thrust in, ripping the flesh apart and relishing in the bloodcurdling scream he got out of the thief as he pressed all the way into the teen below him with a sound, satisfied huff. Akira looked as if he were being split apart, his back arching and his eyes rolling to the back of his head in excruciating pain. The rasp within his throat intensified as the man began to thrust, fast paced and unrelenting as the teen writhed and shrieked below him. He had already bitten through his lip in one attempt to muffle the cries. Soon the man leaned in close and closed his teeth around Akira’s right shoulder, biting down_ _hard_ _._

The ruby eyed teen flinched with every scream, wrapping her arms around herself.

_“ _ **AH**__ _!”_ _Akira shrieked, tears streaming down his face as the man above him smirked into the bite and continued to pummel into the young teen, who was already pouring blood out of the wounds he was receiving and staining the beige sheets below him. The ravenette was gripping hard into his own fists, nails digging into the flesh and blemishing the skin as he wailed and cried and begged for the pain to stop._

She could feel the tears falling down her face in abundance. They had never stung her skin so sharply before.

_“Stop it! P-Please, _ **stop**__ _!_ _” The mahogany eyed man pulled away from the teen’s shoulder, blood dripping down his chin as he grinned wide. The grin only sent more fear coursing through Akira’s veins as he reached his hand upwards to clasp around the pale teen’s throat. Gripping hard around the flesh, he snickered and groaned out into the room._

When had they started falling? She didn’t know.

_“Shut up kid. I only want to hear you_ _scream_ _, you got that. You don’t have a say in what happens to you. In fact, you’re going to take my cock and_ _like it_ _. Aren’t you, filthy whore!” The hands squeezed harder around the teen, causing him to choke hard and writhe further underneath the man. He began to pale and turn a different shade of blue with every second that passed. Horrible gurgles and choking noises filled the room alongside the man’s pleasure filled grunts. Eventually he man let go, causing the teen to gasp hard before he let the same air he desperately needed rush out of him in another strained cry as the man thrust into him hard, hitting something deeply within Akira._

Makoto began to clutch her fists at her sides painfully.

_“Looks like I found it. Go on kid, scream for me…” the man trailed off, slamming back into Akira with a force that winded him yet again. He gasped desperately and held the breath as he gritted his teeth together, muffling the sound as the man continued his work._

_“N-No!” the teen grunted out, screwing his eyes shut with the utter overload his senses were feeling. Again the teen squirmed under the overbearing man above him when nails dug hard into the flesh of his back, forcing the teen upwards toward the man as they sharply ran down his back, drawing blood._

The brunette’s nails began to dig into her soft flesh, marring it with horrendous crimson wounds as the droplets of blood ran down them and onto the floor below.

_“I said_ _**scream** _ _!” The deadly crimson eyes above him bore down into the teen’s own. They were filled with rage and hatred and sadistic need._

_Akira screamed, far more loudly and heart wrenching than any one scream he let out before as the man came inside of him. The man rode out his orgasm with a few more quick thrusts, licking the tears that continued to fall down the thief’s face as he did so. He pulled out quickly and painfully, leaning back on his haunches as he dropped the ravenette onto the bed without care, looking down at the broken and bleeding body before him with a satisfied hum of approval._

“Makoto, hey…” a voice rang next to her but she couldn’t identify it. Everything around her seemed so muted as she bore holes in the laptop she continued to peer into.

_“God, did you have to make him bleed?” One of the men beside the bed complained, leaning back onto the wall behind him with his arms crossed. The crimson eyed man glared at him but kept the smirk he had on his face._

_“It’s no fun if I don’t make him suffer. He has such a pretty face when it’s covered in pain after all.” The man ran his fingers down Akira’s neck and he flinched, hissing out into the air._

“Makoto!” again she ignored the voice as hands shook her shoulders, trying hard to wrench her gaze away from the screen before her.

_“I don’t mind it as much, but there’s so much blood…Oh well, better have at it while I’ve got the chance. “A man in dark blue said, dropping his coat to the floor as he swapped places with the man in brown. And the video continued on…_

“Makoto snap out of it!” Ryuji shouted once more, finally grasping the brunette’s attention as she snapped her eyes to his own pain riddled chocolate brown ones. He was grimacing and gripping tightly onto her shoulders and she could feel his hands shake on her form from the stress of the situation.

And something inside of her broke as she saw the single tear run down his face.

Makoto screamed in rage, slamming her hand down onto the table and splattering some of the blood that leaked from her cuts onto the wood. How could this have happened? Why didn't they stop this? And Akira...Oh god, Akira... As the red faded from her vision and she tried desperately to control her breathing she noticed Ann was curled up in her knees on the floor, sobbing hysterically. The girl realized this must have hit her badly when she kneeled down and quietly spoke to the trembling blonde.

“Ann? Ann…come on…say something. Anything…” Another whimper left the video but a good amount of the actual screaming stopped. Makoto tried her best to ignore it as she placed her hand gently on Ann’s shoulder. As soon as she did the girl whipped her head upwards to face the ruby eyed teen.

“We can’t…We c-can’t…Akira can’t end u-up like Shiho! Promise me, p-promise me he won’t! Makoto please…” the girl trailed off, and Makoto simply pulled her into a close hug.

“We won’t let that happen Ann…He’s got such wonderful friends after all…” again the blonde shook beneath the brunette.

Ryuji stood still as he glanced at the video again, the sickening view of another man having his way with his brother causing his face to contort into a vengeful grimace. It only added to the pain when he could hear the moans Akira was making against his will. The amount of blood that soaked into the once-beige sheets beneath the ravenette was startling and Ryuji could feel bile rise in his throat as he saw it stain the increasingly pale skin of the teen.

It was only a few seconds later that the thief slumped into the sheets as another man took the place of the last, the exhausted and broken teen glancing at the camera before the light faded from his eyes, closing hauntingly slow. The video cut off then, the screen going black and leaving the thieves in a state of disarray.

Haru had settled herself into a booth seat at the bottom of the stairs; flinching when she heard a particularly loud cry and snuggling further into Morgana’s fur. Yusuke found home against the wall where he slid down to the floor in a dazed state. How could such a thing happen to their beloved leader? He gripped his head in one hand painfully as he tried his best to understand the cruelty of the act he’d just witnessed.   _How did they even know where to send the disc?_

Sojiro had carried Futaba to the furthest booth, and if he had not been carrying her he may have been able to unlock the door and bring her to her room where he knew she would feel safest, but the mahogany seat below them would have to do as she sobbed into his chest. He simply rubbed circles into her back and mentally kicked himself for not realizing what was going to happen sooner.

If only he had known…

As soon as Makoto finished consoling Ann, she stood and quickly went over to the laptop. She muted the device as control was given back to the user and moused over the video playback to a certain point. Ryuji appeared beside her and simply stared at her dumbfounded.

“Makoto what are you..?” he never finished his sentence but she knew what he was trying to ask, his voice far too soft than she’d ever heard it before.

“I saw something…here. This watch. Do you see that?” One of the men in the background had a silver watch on, ticking away on his wrist. The time read eight o’clock. Makoto pursed her lips and furrowed her brows. Ryuji noticed the change and simply allowed her to explain.

“Akira was last seen with my sister at nearly midnight Monday. It’s only five o’clock Tuesday afternoon …This must have happened this morning.” The brunette whipped her head around as she heard footsteps ascend the stairs, a red eyed Futaba rubbing beneath her glasses as Sojiro trailed behind her.

“So you’re saying there’s a chance he may still be alive?” Yusuke added, slowly emerging from his panic and standing from his position on the floor.

“Precisely. There may be time yet to figure all of this out.” Makoto glanced between Yusuke and Futaba, who was still sniffling before she kneeled down in front of the girl.

“Is there a way you can find what hotel this room belongs to?” Futaba gripped her hands together behind her back, peering shyly at the floor. Makoto understood her reservations about even looking at the still image of the room but before she could offer the option to back out, Futaba raised her head with a determined glint in her mauve eyes.

“Anything for Akira! I’ll find it, give me some time.” The young girl, with one reassuring squeeze on her shoulder from her father, sat down in the chair once more and began to type away at the computer. Makoto sighed and turned her gaze to Sojiro, who was on the borderline of extremely pissed off and exhaustedly tired.

“Once she finds the location let me take care of it, alright?” Sojiro said, crossing his arms in a commanding kind of way. Makoto frowned before Ryuji appeared beside her, head raised high.

“Like hell—We’re coming too.” Sojiro was practically throwing daggers into the blonde teen as they stared at one another.

“Do you not realize what this means? They’re not going to screw around if they get their hands on one of you! Akira wouldn’t forgive me if anything happened to one of you while we went searching for him.”

“Yeah, he’s a softie like that. But he also knows we can take care of one another when we act as a team! We can find him faster and easier when all of us work together.” Ann stepped forward, wiping her eyes with a defiant sparkle and planting her feet firm on the ground next to Ryuji who smirked at her remark. The older man standing before him only sighed and seemed to have aged at least ten years from the whole ordeal as he wiped his fingers under his glasses with a defeated sigh.

“I swear his stubbornness rubs off on more people than I’d like. All of you will put me in an early grave.” The man muttered, defeated, before retreating down the stairs.

“Just let me know when you guys are ready and have a plan. I’ll be getting ready downstairs.” And with that the man disappeared. Ann looked over her fellow thieves and nodded her head.

“We’ve got this! It’s time to return the favor we owe him!” Makoto smiled and returned the affection with a simple hand resting upon her hip. Haru finally joined the rest at the top of the stairs, slightly disheveled but apparently having heard the whole conversation beforehand.

“We simply must help Akira-kun! Isn’t that right Mona-chan?” the cat jumped from her arms onto the table near the stair case railing, flicking his tail back and forth with vigor.

“That’s right! Joker’s depending on us, so we better not disappoint him!” And with that, all of the teens let out a collective hum of approval. Futaba leaned back in her chair and smirked devilishly once more.

“Operation Save Joker is a go!” And with that, she tapped one final key and found their destination.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This may be Four chapters hehe...
> 
> Thank you for reading (and I will now shamelessly ask for comments, yumyumyum<3)


	3. Seething

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It was quite the plan, she thought, after it had already been set into motion.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know i know I said four parts...well now it's five. Be glad for more story!
> 
> MUSIC Lyrics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQ0lE7e3yfk  
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cR2XilcGYOo (Instramental/ fits better ;))  
> Thank you for reading!

“This one! Here.” Futaba pointed at her laptop screen, grinning wildly. Makoto peered over the younger girl’s shoulder in order to look at the webpage filled with various pictures of similar hotel rooms. And low and behold, the almost exact same room looking far emptier appeared on the page.

“Where is this?” The brunette asked, leaning back from her position just for Ryuji and Ann to get their share of the view. Futaba simply cracked her hands and pointed her gaze at the thieves’ pseudo-leader.

“It’s a really, _really_ old love hotel in Shinjuku. Like, mega crappy old. I’m kinda surprised it’s still open!” Makoto sighed and nodded her head. Of course it was a love hotel. Who knew? She shook her head to rid herself of the spite and turned her gaze onto the other two thieves yet to move. Haru kept close to Morgana who perked his ears up at the screen but did not move towards it. Yusuke merely stood behind the bespectacled girls chair and frowned at the screen.

“It is quite the dilapidated building…Why have they not refurnished it yet?” He murmured under his breath, clearly not focusing on the matter at hand. Although Makoto was not surprised—the teen had a tendency to forgo matters at hand when it came to art—and cleared her throat in order to gather attention away from Futaba’s laptop.

“Well we know the _where_ , but we don’t know exactly which room it is within that building. Or if those men are still there, if Akira is still there…” The brunette trailed off, turning her gaze to the floor and wrapping her arms around her chest tightly. She refused to call those bastards ‘policemen’. They’re a disgrace to the name her father once carried proudly every day of his life.

And from all the blood in the video, the girl couldn’t help but worry for her leader’s life. Would the men still be there, and would their precious friend even be alive? Only time would tell, and due to the already increasing gap between the watch time on the video and the amount of daylight left Makoto cut to the chase pretty quickly when she snapped her eyes onto each of her teammates. One glance at each of them pulled them from their own dark places as they refocused onto the ruby eyes filled with rekindled flames.

“So we need to figure out the exact room location, and know who’s still in there? How are we going to do that Queen?” Ann asked, breaking the silence with a determined focus.

“We can easily ask the clerk of the room number if one of us was under the guise of an escort. I’m fairly sure at least one of those men would be involved with such things. “Ryuji was nearly floored when the suggestion came from the brunette’s mouth. He never thought she would suggest such a thing _ever_ , even for a heist. Smart though, he thought, since they had a girl perfect for the role. Everyone’s gaze turned to Ann while the blonde merely shut her eyes and smirked in annoyance.

“Why is everyone looking at me? Makoto seems far more refined for this kind of job!”

“ _Makoto_ isn’t nearly as smokin’ as you are. You’d probably make the clerk’s heart stop beating.” Ryuji snickered before the girl swatted his head in anger.

“Ow! It’s true though! You can’t tell me-“The teen rubbed the back of his stinging head as Makoto stepped forward, eyes mischievously demanding attention as they locked with Ann’s own.

“Ann, if you would be so kind…?” With a subtle, almost silent plea and an overriding feeling of _you-don’t-have-a-choice_ , the blonde sighed and gave in.

“Fine. I’ll do it but I won’t like it. Next?” The group drew close around the table as the second in command headed it.

“We need to know what we’re going to do about those men…”Haru suggested, sitting down in one chair politely.

“We could go in guns blazing, but that would override all of our work in faking Akira’s death. We don’t even know if those men are still there. If so, and if Akira is still being held in that room, we should be prepared for a fight of sorts. At the very least we may need to change a few hearts in Mementos.” The group collectively nodded before Yusuke bowed his head forward in thought.

“If I can intrude--how did those men know to send the disc to LeBlanc?” At the question everyone’s head turned and another wave of unease shook through the thieves.

“Do you think they planned this? Us exposin’ ourselves to rescue Akira?” Ryuji’s eyes widened, his chair tilting back nervously.

“I don’t think so. They were speaking in the video as if we would see the disc and, knowing our leader has been compromised, scatter.” Makoto thought aloud, her hand resting on her chin.

“But that still leaves the question of how they sent it here.” Ann pitched in, leaning back in her chair with her arms crossed and her brow raised.

“They could totally get that from Akira’s file! He is on probation here after all. Besides, Dad went to check the mail at our house, not Leblanc’s front door. They must have thought he lived in the house.” Futaba spoke, not looking away from her computer as she tapped away on the keyboard. It would have been rude had all of the thieves not already been used to the act.

“Okay, but why send it here and not to the rest of you individually? Do they know about your involvement in the Phantom thieves?” Morgana spoke, tilting his feline head and screwing his eyes towards the table in deep thought.

“I don’t suppose any of us have checked our home mail before arriving here?” Haru asked, waving her hand in the air suggestively. Ryuji shook his head and Ann followed suit, turning their gazes on Makoto who had arrived with her sister earlier that day. They had come straight from their house as well.

“My sister and I had no such disc in our mailbox when we left.”Small agreements rang out into the air among the sound of tapping keys and wooden creaks of chairs shifting around.

“I do not believe they think of us as a threat.  If they did then they would have taken care of us already. If anything they would have attempted to get that information from Akira. But as the video suggests, they merely wanted to invoke fear from us.” Yusuke pondered aloud, furrowing his brow as he came to his conclusion. Makoto nodded her head in agreement.

“I think that as well. That video, “-the girl pointed at the laptop as she spoke-”, was meant to scare us into silence. Everything done was just to make sure we wouldn’t be meddling with police affairs again. If they have our leader, then there’s no need to go after the rest of us when they can put the majority of the blame on him.”

“Do they even realize Akira has been publicly declared dead?”Ryuji added, tilting his chin on his arms as they crossed over the back of the chair. Makoto had thought of this already and ran her fingers across her face to brush back some stray strands of hair behind her ear.

“They may be involved with Akechi in some manner. If not, then they took the opportunity of Akira’s supposed death in order to exact some sort of revenge.”

“But what reason could they have for such a thing?” Haru asked, running her hand across Morgana’s fur as the quiet cat stared at the table in silence. He broke it by raising his cobalt gaze and sighing into the air.

“Think about it guys; the police have been after the Phantom Thieves for months. They’ve worked day and night to bring us to justice ever since we were framed for the murders. It’s only natural that when they found out the leader of this mysterious group they were after was some punk kid, they flipped.” At the suggestion everyone at the table paled, listening closely to the words coming from the cat’s mouth.

Makoto gripped the edge of the table in anger, mentally kicking herself for never having thought about it before. Of course the police would be furious when the leader of a supposed group of terrorists was a sixteen year old high school student. It sent shivers down her spine when she remembered what that man in the brown suit had said during the video.

_“I think you deserve it after giving us hell in trying to catch you. Sides’ it’s not like you haven’t murdered people before. Who knew this little bastard was the righteous leader of the Phantom Thieves?”_

“Hey, Makoto…” Ryuji’s voice broke through the memory and the brunette lifted her head, noticing the concern etched into the teen’s face as he sighed.

“I’m okay. If what we’ve just discussed is true, then there’s no way those men would be expecting retaliation of any sort.”Various glances from around the room shifted to look at one another, silently agreeing before returning to Makoto’s ruby gaze.

“So does that mean we get to kick some major ass?”Ryuji smirked, a glaze of fire spreading through his eyes as he stared at Makoto.

“I think we could pull it off if necessary. We wouldn’t be risking our exposure if we rescued Akira in a way that was more reminiscent of a local gang feud.”Ryuji shifted his gaze onto Ann’s, whose own was staring right back at him as they mutually agreed Makoto had thought of this awfully quickly. And in the slight unease they felt towards the girl as her mind continued to run through the options available to them, they began to see visible signs of a deep, repressed side of their friend lift to the surface.

“Gang feud? What are you-“

“Just go with it Inari. It’s not like we’re that far off from one ourselves.” Futaba cut the older boy off with her tongue sticking out, the plump and pleasantly pink flesh mocking him as he allowed a sigh to escape into the room.

“…So you’re saying we also need disguises?”Yusuke mumbled, and Makoto tilted her head to the side in thought.

“Maybe not all of us, but for sure Ann, Ryuji, and myself. I think I have a plan we could use for this.” With a dark smirk and one more glance around the room, all members of the thieves nodded their heads. The look on the brunette’s face only reminded them all too well of a certain thief while in the metaverse. It was actually reassuring more so than unsettling, and a wave of confidence swept throughout the room.

“There’s only one catch; how far are we willing to go to save our leader?”

__________________________________

The young man sighed behind his large glasses, elbows digging painfully hard into the scratched and stained wood that he barely called a ‘counter’. He rested his face on his open palms and tossed his phone to the side with a dull _thump_. It was yet another fruitless, boring day with little to no customers in his sight; the only company was the various phone games he had played throughout his grueling shift. When was that damned old man finally going to hire more help? He wasn’t sure what would kill him first; his boredom or his meager paycheck.

The front door jingled open, signaling another couple to enter and for the clerk to half-heartedly ask which room they would like to have. Not that any of them were much more than outdated, spur of the moment or drunken choices. This place was a major dump after all, and that was even with the maid they paid to clean the rooms. The young man straightened his back, pushing himself up off of the un-lacquered wood to greet the customers. To his utter surprise—and delight—there was only a single, stunningly beautiful blonde.

The young woman, probably no older than seventeen, strutted into the front foyer with an attitude of fire and a look in her eyes that made a shiver run down his spine. Her beautifully long blonde hair— _was it natural?_ —was pulled into a high pony tail, which was pulled forward over her right shoulder. Jaw-dropping, sparkling sapphire gemstones peered into the glint of his glasses. Her body was tucked snuggly into a skin-tight teal cocktail dress, her breasts barely hidden and accented by the material and leaving little to the imagination. A short, black leather jacket was caressing her shoulders as the cuffs of the rough material ran down to her polished, muted purple fingernails. They were perfectly sculpted into half moons and when he glanced down at her legs; saw she was also wearing black thigh high leather boots, her creamy skin underneath flawless and demanding attention.

The girl simply smiled, pearly white teeth peering back at the clerk, as she laughed lightly and set her right arm down on the countertop, her other arm following and her bosom resting with a slight jiggle upon the ebony leather. He gulped and managed to shake off the initial shock. Since when was such a beautiful girl walking into this absolute wreck of a love hotel? Whoever was paying for her was paying quite well, and the young man almost felt pity for her before she snapped his attention back to herself with a single hum. That one sound would haunt his dreams for weeks afterwards.

“Do you think you can help me, sugar?” The velvety sweet voice rang into his ears and he had to mentally slap himself in order to form any kid of reply.

“Y-yeah. Lookin’ f-for a room in particular, m-miss?” The young man’s response barely left as a more than a whisper, and he had to swallow hard when he felt sweat beading on his forehead.

The beautiful girl eyed him over for a second then slowly ran her eyes back up to his own. It took all the willpower the clerk had to not blush scarlet.

“Mhm. I have a few… _friends_ …that requested some assistance.” He was completely absorbed into her orbs to notice the slight resentment in her voice, but that didn’t stop her from pulling him in further with a tilt of her head, “You might have seen them walk in here. Men in dress suits? “

“O-Oh, y-yeah. Those guys.” He remembered them, those husky businessmen that had been there since early morning. It was a twenty-four hour kind of place, and they had rented the room for a few days as well. Before he could think about anything else, he melted into the blonde’s feather touch as one of her fingers ghosted over his own that was pressing hard into the counter, not from aggression but for the simple need to stay standing.

“My client is one of them, but he forgot to tell me the number of the room I’m supposed to be going to…Do you mind helping me out, Naoya?” The clerk jolted at the sound of his name, his gaze never leaving her own as he managed to speak up.

“S-Sure. How did you k-know my n-name?” She chuckled and with a flick of her gaze, and her wrist, pointed to the name tag on his shirt. He flushed furiously before turning around, eye contact never breaking, before his hands fumbled around for the correct room key. A small jingle of metal flitted through the air as he spoke.

“Room two-sixteen. On the s-second floor.” Before the young man could put the key onto the counter the girl reached out, clasping his hand ever so gently as she curled her fingers around the metal. He felt a buzz of electricity run through his fingers, down his spine, and into certain private areas before her flesh left his own.

“Thanks, sugar. Oh, one more thing…“ the young girl said, turning her body away and placing her slender fingers around the rose red purse handing from her left shoulder. How had he not noticed it before? She turned her head back toward the clerk and smiled once more, her glossy pink lips shining in the light. “Is there a backdoor for when I need to, you know, smoke?” Her hands gestured to her purse with a light tap, and the young man nodded his head to the movement.

“You can smoke in the rooms…”The young man found himself saying, and the light in her eyes faded just slightly. A small pout came to her lips before she forced it down and gripped her purse tighter.

“Alright, but what about the fire escape, just in case..?”The clerk nearly face-palmed himself when he realized she was making sure there was a way to escape in case something went wrong. Of course a girl as stunning and delicate as herself would want to have options!

“There’s a door back there!” The clerk said all too quickly, feeling his breath quicken as he rounded the corner and pointed to the staircase door that sat right beside the elevator. If he got any closer to the girl she would surely notice something he would be deeply embarrassed about for _years_. She didn’t need to know.

“As soon as you go through, there’s a door next to the bottom staircase that leads outside. Y-You can use that to get to the back alley. It locks automatically when you leave so…Just, be careful, okay?” The young girl laughed at his concern and took a few steps towards the door, opening it long enough to spin and stand in front of it, her right knee bent and teasing as the dress stretched around it, but his gaze was caught by her stunning eyes once more as she blew a kiss towards him.

“Thanks Naoya. I’ll be up to my room then.” And with that, the girl walked through the door before the clerk could alert her to the elevator. Or maybe she wanted to use the stairs? Oh well. It didn’t matter. The most precious, beautiful thing he had ever laid eyes upon had left his sight and he had business to take care of elsewhere. Naoya never even got her name! With one more bored glance at the front door, he retreated back behind the counter and sighed.

Naoya really needed to get himself someone like that…

As soon as the steel door shut behind her, Ann sighed and followed the directions to the rusty, discolored back door the timid boy had talked about. She felt kinda bad for deceiving the poor kid…but at least it was just a shy kid, rather than some old perverted pig who would gawk and mentally unclothe her with their stupid smirks. God, she hated those kinds of people. It wasn’t like her outfit helped her though, she had made sure to follow her part of the plan down to the‘t’. Even the contacts she wore were another piece of the façade.

She made her way to the door and reached it just as Morgana, whom she had snuck into the hotel inside her purse, sat waiting in the corner of the concrete floor. Making eye contact with the feline and nodding in silent agreement, Ann opened the door and allowed the three other planned members of her team inside.

“How did it go?” The cyan figure asked, walking in and allowing the yellow teen beside herself room to scoot. The two were dressed in a similar fashion; both wearing long sleeved hoodies in their respective colors and matching pants to boot. The outfits actually fit their figures quite well, Ann thought, and praised herself on choosing the black combat boots they wore. The girl in blue turned towards the blonde with an expectant hand on her hip, and Ann saw the blue Featherman mask her leader wore. It suited her well, and hid any trace of her face with the hood positioned upwards on her head.

“Got the number and the key; second floor. Two-sixteen. Don’t think the others have left though…” She dropped the key into Queen’s onyx gloved hand, who then proceeded to clutch it to her chest and turn towards the yellow spectacle beside herself. The boy shrugged in return, his hands in his pockets and dawning a straighter posture when he remembered he had to act differently in order to not be noticed. Body language was a huge factor after all!

“So that means we made the right choice to put all of this stuff on, right?” Skull asked, tilting his hooded head to the side in and scooting closer to the wall, just as one familiar white-and-pink clad figure shut the door behind himself.

“Yes. They won’t suspect a thing. Mona, start working on the door. We need to be able to come and go as we please just in case something happens.” The cat mewled a reply and set on permanently unlocking the door. Ann crossed her arms and pressed them firmly against her chest in a small attempt to feel better about exposing herself so much. Makoto turned her masked face onto the blonde girl and continued on.

“It’s our cue; you can let Fox and Noir know we’ve gotten this far. Tell them to put their plan into motion. It shouldn’t take us long.” Panther nodded and made her exit, making sure to set her slightly worried gaze onto Skull before she left. He could tell what the look in her eyes meant. _Make sure Akira’s okay._ He would be damned if he failed. With this in mind he returned the nod, and made his way over to Sojiro, who himself was adjusting his hat on his head.

“Alright, everyone know what they’re supposed to do?” Queen’s question sliced through the air and both members of her party nodded their heads. Her tone, however, demanded a verbal response. Picking up on this, the two complied.

“I’m here to help you with any trouble, and make sure to occupy the guards.”Skull smirked underneath his mask. It was going to feel good if he got to fight some of them. He would honestly be content knocking a few specific ones out, especially that bastard in the brown suit. If he got his hands on him…

“I’m here to wait for the signal and get the kid to safety, without anyone noticing me, right?” Queen nodded her head to their elder as he sighed and rubbed at his temple.

“Alright then, let’s do this!” Queen finally said, making her way up the stairs with Skull in tow. Boss was to wait by the door in case of emergency and the text that Akira was alive and safe. If the group were not back within the allotted time, then something was wrong and he was to get the rest of the team out of there, no questions asked.

Oracle’s voice rang in through the small earpieces—of which, the brunette had no idea how the bespectacled girl got her hands on—within the ears of the two thieves.

“I’ll have eyes on you at all times, so if you need anything don’t hesitate to ask!” The girl’s sweet but also mischievous voice was welcome and additionally unnerving, as if she were treating this like one of her games. If it got her to keep her head in the real game, then so be it.

“Okay. You remember your role in this, Oracle?” A mixture of a ‘meep’ and the sound of something hitting a desk, followed by a small ‘ow’ rang through the earpiece. Queen couldn’t stop her muffled laugh as the girl on the other end had unknowingly nodded her head into her desk in reply.

“Y-Yeah, get any and all information from their phones including names, personal information, ect. Anything to do with the investigation…Just keep your guy’s phones close for a few seconds and my program will do all the work!” It was still quite frightening that Oracle had access to all of their phones, and it was only more so when she had stated she could hack into other phones within range of their own due to her ‘magnificent child’ of a computer program. The brunette mentally noted to have a talk with the mauve eyed girl after the mission was completed.

“Just stay alert; I’ll let you know when to proceed with the rest of the plan.” A split second later the girl sang out her reply and the connection went silent. Soon Queen and Skull were both standing outside of the door to the second floor, nodding at one another in agreement. Skull was surprisingly quiet and Queen couldn’t help but ask the question on her mind.

“Are you sure you’re ready for this? We can always swap you out with Fox-“

“No. I’ll be fine once I see him with my own eyes, that’s all.” The blonde sighed and tilted his back farther before rolling his right shoulder joint in a stretch. Queen simply nodded her sentiment before pressing her gloved hand to the metal door.

“Well then, let’s get our leader back, shall we?” The girl could feel the smirk the other teen gave her as the door opened and they were greeted to the sight of ugly, beige and brown walls. They pressed themselves beside the wall they encountered as Queen peeked over the corner, taking a thorough look down the empty hallway and noting the elevator next to the door they entered the floor from. One more twist of her head revealed the other end of the corridor. It seemed the stairway and elevator were positioned within the middle of the building and both sides of the hotel stretched around those central areas. There must’ve been twenty or so rooms on that floor alone, each one zigzagging off of the beige corridor in the artificial light.

 _Turn left_ , a voice rang out inside of Queen’s head. She jumped at the sudden suggestion but as she peered down the left hallway, she saw one of the rooms to the far end open and a cacophony of laughter leapt out into the air. One by one, four men in suits left the room, one man seemingly drunk and wrapping his arm around another’s shoulders as he tried to walk in a straight line. The two behind them were disheveled and had a strange glow about them, and the one to the left in a blue colored suit was holding a plastic bag in one hand. Again a chorus of laughter rang out into the hall as the men talked among themselves.

“Man that was fun! I don’t think I’ve had a day quite like that in a long time.” The man beside the blue suit cackled, straightening his tie around his plaid red and yellow suit.

“Yeah you bet! I’m honestly surprised that kid lasted as long as he did.” Skull turned his gaze to Queen, who was still eyeing the men down the hall. She quickly met his gaze with a nod of her head and returned to her position.

“I was beginning to think Saito-kun would never be done with him. God, hope we’re paying the hotel staff enough to clean up in there…”The man in white spoke, stopping his slow walk in order to adjust the man beside him further into his grip over his shoulder.

“Nah, Kage’s got this. He loves to deal with the aftermath. You know how he is, sadistic as hell but willing to go the length.” More laughter rang out, and Queen signaled to Skull that this was their cue.

 _‘Just remember your lines, Skull. Everything will be fine_.’ The boy chanted inside of his head as the teens walked out into the hallway, obscuring the path to the exits. The laughter of the men died down as their eyes landed onto the two teens and one of the men’s faces lit up in unpleasant annoyance.

“What do you guys think you’re doing in our territory?” Skull spoke, voice full of malice as he stood tall, hands in his pockets. He even went the length to deepen his voice just enough so that only a select few people would know it was even him underneath the costume.

“I don’t think us Featherd’s leader would be happy about seeing cops in his part of Shinjuku, would he now?” Queen spoke, her arms crossed over her chest and her stance firm. She added a higher pitch and a mocking drawl to her tone that screamed everything but 'Makoto'. The man in blue spoke up, moving to the front of the other men before landing his gaze on the teen in cyan.

“Listen here, we’ve got a deal with your leader to use this place as we need to, in order to ‘overlook’ your punk ass drug operation.”The burning gaze of the man didn’t affect her, but Queen recognized him from the video long before their conversation. It only made her grip her hands onto her upper arms in seething rage.

“Red never said anything about some deal with the cops. You know what happens when we find your drunken asses in our territory.” Skull interjected, taking one step forward as Queen followed behind.

“So that’s how you want to play this? Fine then. I don’t mind arresting a couple of punk kids in order to have a nice end to my day off.” The man in blue spoke, but before he could make good on his threat Queen had rushed forward, spinning over her heel before flying through the air. Her right foot connected with the man in blue’s chin and sent him flying backwards with a loud _thump_ onto the ground. The other men in the corridor were split apart now, dazed as their leader groaned in pain on the floor. In part awe, and fear, Skull kept back for a second before rushing forward and setting his sights on the man in white.

The man hurried to drop the wasted friend he had been keeping afloat, before a sickening crack filled the air when a fist connected with his face. Skull gave no openings and pushed the man into the wall before landing one more hit on the man, in the perfect spot to deliver a knock-out blow. The plaid suited man took a few steps back from Queen, her fists clenched at her sides as she deduced the best way to start on the scum in front of her. She could hear their leader spit blood out onto the floor, along with shards of a canine tooth.

_Serves you right, asshole._

 The teen smirked underneath her mask and found herself within range of another spinning kick. She grounded herself firmly before delivering the kick, far too fast for the man in plaid to dodge. Again another thump radiated out into the air. A strangled cry pierced their eardrums as the man in blue tried to rush forward, gunning straight for Queen. But just as he reached out, Skull swiftly brought his knee into the bastard’s stomach, relishing the gasp he earned in response before planting a punch onto the man’s face, bones giving way to a broken nose and blood gushing out of the nostrils as he landed hard on his back. Skull crouched down around the man’s form before delivering a few more well-deserved punches, eventually knocking the man out. Queen brought her foot down on the plaid man’s neck, staring straight into his crystal eyes before finding the proper pressure point and utilizing it to put the man to sleep. The two teens nodded to one another before a rush of air beside Queen alerted them to another presence.

 _Behind you!_ A familiar voice rang out inside of Queen’s head, before she turned and promptly kicked the drunken final member of the party in the groin. He let out a hiss of pain before her knuckles connected with his face, holding the man up by the collar of his suit before she heard his breath leave him and he slumped to the floor unconscious.

“Holy shit Queen, how’d you know he was even there?” Skull asked, straightening himself and shaking his bruised hand in order to relieve some of the minor pain coursing through the joints. The sticky liquid stained parts of their outfits were it had splattered, and Skull’s gloves would need a good cleaning, but they both managed to get out of the situation unscathed. The brunette simply tilted her head at him, and had she not been wearing a mask he would have seen her confused brows furrowed. She noticed the absence of the brown suited man who made himself prominent in the video before she turned away from her peer and towards the end of the hall.

“Not sure…It doesn’t matter, let’s just get to the room. Their leader is still in there.” She brought herself forward to a worn and old wooden door, the dull bronze numbers on the front reading two-sixteen as a flutter of excited, nervous hope ran through her. _Please be alive…_ She clutched her fists at her sides before turning her gaze back to Skull, who had positioned himself at her side. They both nodded in unison before she retrieved the key from her pocket and opened the door.

The room was dark, barely lit enough to see where their feet met the ugly amber carpet as they stepped inside. The smell of booze and smoke was muted as the powerful scent of blood filled the air, piercing their nostrils and infecting every pore of their skin. Queen wrinkled her nose in disgust and horror as she realized it must have come from Akira. Skull tried his best not to gag as the door shut behind them and the pair of eyes adjusted to the dark atmosphere of the room. The air was heavy and thick with unease, and the sound of shuffling bed sheets rang sharply in the teen’s ears as they inched closer to the open part of the bedroom. As soon as they cautiously rounded the corner, the sight before them elicited gasps through their masks.

Blood. Everywhere she looked there was blood. The floor was spotted with the substance and some had splattered onto the walls. The headboard had been spared most of it but once her eyes looked at the bed she felt her stomach turn. It looked as if someone spilled red wine over the bedding. The once beiges sheets were nearly blackened by the substance and Queen had unconsciously backed into Skull behind her. He himself couldn’t comprehend the scene before him. The kitchenette off to the left had been the only thing spared from the mess. It took all Skull had not to empty the contents of his stomach onto the floor.

_How in the hell can one person have that much blood!?_

The man in brown, Saito, stood behind the far end of the bed. He was hunched over and picking something off of the floor before he snapped his head in their direction. A sickening, playful smile lit his face when he saw the two teens in their Featherman garb and he dropped whatever he was holding back onto the floor with a soft _thump_.

“Well look here. We’ve got company, don’t we kid?” Queen searched around the room with her eyes and found she didn’t see Akira anywhere. Where was he? Was he even still _alive_? Before she could say anything Skull beat her to the punch as he stepped forward.

“What in the _hell_ have you done!” The roar of pure ire coming from the blonde’s lips only caused the man to laugh and straighten himself, hand on his hip as he smirked back at the two teens.

“I think you mean to ask me ‘what _haven’t_ I done?’” The pure malice and cold, dark tone that the man used to speak only sent chills down both of their spines. This man, this vile waste of a human being had tormented Akira for well over ten hours. No amount of rage would satisfy the brunette as she too stepped forward, her fists clenched tightly at her sides.

“You bastard! You’re going to pay for this!” She screamed out, panting heavily in order to control her urge to roundhouse kick the prick to hell and back. Skull watched as the man shifted his weight to one side and huffed, leaning down and gripping his hand around something before he spoke.

“I think I know who you two are. You’re thieves, aren’t you? I never thought I’d have the pleasure of meeting you but since you’re here, I might as well add to the body count.” Skull bared his teeth at the man and stiffened. Well, shit. There goes one more blow to their defenses. Queen continued to clench her fists and felt her nails leave painful indention's in the leather.

“Body count? I swear to god, you sick son of a bitch, if you touch him-“

“You’ll what? Fight me? Kill me, perhaps? Well then allow me to motivate you.” The man walked away from the bed and turned to face the teens. His left hand was grasped around dripping, bloody locks of familiar ebony hair. The familiar figure of Akira was hanging limp and lifeless from his hand, blood having dripped down his face and covering his body, outlining it in black and red among the shadows of the room. His hands barely touched the floor, and the fingers on his left hand were grotesquely misshapen and broken. Bruises littered his skin and turned it from creamy beige to various shades of cyan, magenta, violet, and teal. His eyes were closed but after a startled gasp and cry from Queen, they opened just slightly to reveal dead, dull grey irises and no pupils. The world spun for a moment and much more scarlet and ebony crept into the room, before a familiar red gloved hand clamped down on the left wrist of Saito. He turned his crimson gaze backwards to see a figure in a midnight black tailcoat, grey vest and glaring, electric yellow eyes.

“ ** _Motivate this!_** ” the familiar voice sounded out into the room before the other ruby glove smashed into Saito’s face. He dropped Akira’s limp body and stumbled forward before a deafening crunch of bones sounded out, a foot planting itself into his chest and causing the man to fly far behind the two teens as they realized what was going on.

The ugly beige and chocolate hotel room had been traded for the familiar scarlet and ash walls of Mementos. No longer did the scent of blood fill their noses, but the burning gaze of the yellow eyes, completely engulfed in rage and misery, made them flinch back away from it. Though it was not directed at them, they saw the massive amounts of scarlet and ebony magic radiating off of the familiar figure before them cascade outwards. The figure dropped to one knee beside Akira’s lifeless body, peeling the midnight coat off of its shoulders and placing it around the pale—no, almost _blue_ —and bloody teen. He made no sound as he picked their leader up bridal style, before he set his acidic gaze onto Queen and began to walk forward. Stunned, neither teen had spoken aside from audible gasps before Skull locked his gaze onto his friend and cried out.

“J-Joker? What the-“He started before Queen felt a surge run through her bones. No, that was not Joker. She knew the way Joker walked, talked, and overall _felt_ in the metaverse. He was completely collected and radiated confidence and ambition. This was something else entirely, especially since there seemed to be two Akira’s in their midst; and only shadows ever had such piercing yellow eyes. Her own ruby ones snapped to that neon gaze as she interrupted her companion beside her.

“No! That’s not Akira…That’s Arsene!”At the mention of his name, his lips tugged upwards. The gap between the teens closed and the closer the thief came to them, the clearer Queen could see the trails of tears streaming down his face. Skull stood, jaw-dropped as he tried his best to comprehend the situation. Persona’s couldn’t be Shadows…right? Gah, just when he thought he had wrapped his head around this kind of stuff…the only good thing he saw in that situation was how his face was still hidden by his mask.

“Thank you, Queen, for listening to me earlier.” Arsene spoke, sending chills down the girl’s spine when she connected that voice to the one in her head. She briefly wondered how before she realized she had yet to speak, and decided to ask about it later. Right now, there were more important things to worry about.

“You’re welcome. Is Akira alive?” Arsene glanced down at his ward with a saddened expression before he locked his gaze back onto the brunette’s through her mask. Suddenly the two teens were no longer wearing their Feathermen uniforms and were instead dressed in their metaverse garb.

“He won’t be unless you heal him. I, myself, cannot do such things. He will die otherwise.” Arsene kneeled once more to settle himself into a cross-legged position, Akira resting lifelessly in his lap. He seemed so small nestled within the ink colored fabric surrounding himself, and his body was growing colder by the minute. He knew Akira did not have much time left. Queen spared no second for herself as she summoned Anat and cast her healing magic upon the thief before her. Skull looked behind their group to see the crimson-eyed man struggle to his feet, coughing blood and holding his chest all the while his furious gaze rested on the yellow eyed shadow.

“Y-You damned brat-“ Skull was quick on his feet as he ran full speed and grasped the man by his collar, throwing a abnormally strong punch into the man’s jaw and sent him crumbling back to the floor. An angry huff left the blonde’s lips as he bore holes into the man below him.

“And stay down, you perverted bastard!” Skull screeched, before turning his head back towards his friends. A majority of the blood that once stained Akira’s skin had dissipated, and some of his more severe bruises healed to lesser, more manageable ones. His broken, misshapen hand stitched itself back together underneath the confines of the coat wrapped around him. His skin grew pinker when more blood flowed through it, renewed vigor springing into the thieves as the magic wore off. Given, it was not an ‘end all’ to their issues. He was healed decently for now, but Akira would still need medical attention when they returned to the real world.

Arsene’s sigh of relief flitted through the air as he stood, clutching his ward protectively to his chest. Queen and Skull stood beside them both and a genuine smile spread across their lips when they heard their leader’s small, comfortable mewl as he unconsciously snuggled into his shadow’s form. The softened lemon gaze turned to the other thieves before he spoke.

“I sincerely thank you. He’s made such wonderful friends…My only hope is that it will be enough.”Arsene whispered the end of the sentence, so that only Queen caught it. Her smile faltered before the red gloved teen made his way close to her form, reaching out and tapping the phone she held in her hand with one sole, crimson fingertip. The world shifted again, this time back to the hotel room where they once stood.

Saito was unconscious on the floor, and blood was dripping from his mouth and onto the already stained carpet. Queen and Skull were back, masked within their Featherman outfits. Akira was still snuggled close to a visibly confused, crimson eyed teen wearing a grey waistcoat and scarlet gloves. He blinked his eyes once before Skull croaked out a startled response.

“ _W-What!?_ ”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It was getting so long I thought 'Heh, one more chapter, okay?"
> 
> And yeah Arsene has those red eyes in the real world that occasionally Akira has in the metaverse. You're welcome.


End file.
